


my crown is called content

by JewFlexive



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M, Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter), Prince Family - Freeform, Severitus, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-03-02 00:23:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13306467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JewFlexive/pseuds/JewFlexive
Summary: "We're Princes, Harry. Princes don't rely on prophecies or dreams. Princes trust what they make with their own two hands, what they create with their own minds. Princes don't need good luck. We make our own luck."“I’m not a Prince.”“No, but you’re a Snape. Take one look at Severus and tell me it isn’t the same thing.”(In which Emmaline Prince comes home to help her cousin win a war and gets a whole lot more than she bargained for.)





	1. Grimmauld Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma drinks alone, Sirius speaks to a human for the first time in four days, and Severus is running late.

Emma wasn’t one for solitude. For as long as she could remember, solitude meant insanity. She surmised it had to do with her upbringing. Prince Manor had always been bustling with activity, and Ilvermorny had been a school full of magical teenagers given relatively few rules. Emma had learned that silence usually meant trouble.

That only made Grimmauld Place all the worse. It wasn’t enough that she was in an evil house with countless Dark artifacts and strange portraits. No, she was  _ alone  _ in an evil house with countless Dark artifacts and strange portraits. 

She heard a bang from one of the upper floors of the townhouse. 

_ Well  _ she thought wryly.  _ Not  _ completely  _ alone. _

Sirius Black was a menace. At least, she thought he was. Admittedly, the man had yet to come down from his hideout shared with the hippogriff. He hadn’t said a word to her, and she had been in his home for almost four days. No Order members had seen it fit to visit since her arrival, and all Emma’s lesson plans were finished, so she was going a bit stir-crazy.

To be fair, there was the house elf. But Kreacher had said a few too many slurs to be pleasant company. The poor wretch hadn’t gotten any better than he had been during her childhood.

Emma groaned and padded into the kitchen, putting the kettle on so she could have another cuppa. That’s what she had missed the most while she had lived in the United States— some good, strong tea. Most American tea was a disgrace, and she had been loath to part with the amount of money required to ship enough decent British tea to Salem. Emma ruminated on the merits of tea and whether or not she should ask her cousin for Aunt Eileen’s Blend when she heard footsteps. She glanced behind her towards the sound, but elected to ignore it, instead pouring herself a mug of tea and sitting down to read  _ Hogwarts: A History _ . 

A few minutes later, a person entered the kitchen. Emma held up a finger as she finished a paragraph describing the Hufflepuff Common Room. The entrance was truly ingenious. After she finished, she marked the page and closed the book. Grasping the mug of tea in her hand, Emma looked up at the intruder. 

He must have been drop dead gorgeous at some point, she noted. But that had been before his stint in Azkaban. He was still handsome, though, with a sharp jawline and regal nose, his hair a rich shade of ebony. But his eyes were wild, his body haggard, and his countenance crazed.

“Sirius,” Emma greeted him amiably. “A pleasure.” She took a sip of her tea, making a mental note to ask Kingsley for some honey. 

“You are?” Sirius asked haughtily, surveying the kitchen, obviously looking for something to be angry about. Emma smirked inwardly, knowing that feeling all too well. Isolation always made her itch for a fight. But she wouldn’t take the bait.

“Emmaline Josefa Prince,” she replied lightly, watching him for any sign of a reaction. When he gave nothing but a slight nod, she considered it a victory. He didn’t need to know about her cousin. Not yet anyway.

Sirius would dislike her on her own merit. Not on his.

Emma grinned and patted the seat next to her.

“I’ve been here going on four days," she informed her host breezily as he sat down. “Alastor dropped me off noonish on Sunday. Said you’d make it down to greet me eventually.” 

Sirius cracked a smile, and the crazed look in his eyes retreated a bit. “You’ll have to excuse that,” he replied sheepishly. “I’m still recovering.”

Emma nodded, feeling a surge of pity for the man. No matter what Sirius had done to her cousin, even  _ he _ recognized that the twelve years Sirius spent in Azkaban were beyond wasted. Sirius would obviously need some time to recuperate after that much exposure to dementors.

Never mind he still hadn’t had an opportunity to properly mourn his friends. 

The two of them exchanged pleasantries for a quarter hour before Sirius recognized her. 

“You look familiar,” he declared. 

“Really?” Emma asked innocently, hiding her face in her mug as she took a rather large swallow of her now-lukewarm tea.

“Yeah,” Sirius answered excitedly. “You’re Marcus and Mariah’s youngest, right?”

Emma nodded mutely. She hoped Sirius didn’t know enough about the Prince family tree to make a connection. Not that it would matter in a couple of hours, but she had gone an awfully long time without human conversation. And Sirius  _ was  _ rather witty.

“I was sorry to hear about them,” he continued, albeit more quietly. “They were always good to me, even after I was disowned. They helped me get my first flat after Hogwarts, actually. Saved my life, that did.”

Emma smiled sadly. That did sound like them— but she had no doubt that the rest of the family had been oblivious to the aid they sent Sirius. Marcus and Mariah Prince may very well have had hearts of gold, but they kept them closely guarded for protection.

Little that had helped them in the end.

“I’m sorry that Bella got to them." Sirius mused. “They were good people, even if they decided to stay neutral in the war.”

Emma bristled. 

“They may not have chosen a side,” she retorted. “But you’ll recall they were joined by the majority of Wizarding Britain.”

“Well, of course,” Sirius furrowed his brow. “But all of the big families did. The Order could have used them.”

“If my memory is accurate, they were a bit too Slytherin for the Order’s taste.”

“Allowances would have been made.”

Emma snorted derisively while Sirius just looked confused. She shook her head, marveling at how deep these inter-house prejudices ran. Slytherins were useful for money and information. But past those, who cared?

She felt a rush of affection for Ilvermorny, with its large, spacious dining hall and round, inter-house tables. She missed her friends in all four houses, the lot of them a blend of the Founders’ dreams. Ilvermorny had used houses as a method of organization and a starting community for the firsties, but Hogwarts put too much stock in the divisions.

Apparently, Sirius took Emma’s silence as agreement, beginning to chatter about his Hogwarts days once he saw the book in her hands. Emma feigned politeness with the occasional nod or noncommittal noise, but was all too aware of what everything he was saying was leading up to. She slowly folded into herself, praying she wouldn’t hear the two names she knew all too well, knowing she might not be able to hide her reactions.

Of course, Emma’s luck had never been good.

“Most of the Order members are old school friends,” Sirius explained. “Known the lot of them for years— we get along nicely for the most part. But Merlin, I cannot  _ wait  _ for you to meet Snivellus.” Sirius chuckled at the image.

Emma tensed.

“Sure, he  _ says _ he’s reformed," he said, oblivious to Emma’s reaction. “But the greasy bat never had one decent bone in his body. Don’t know how he'd find it now. Especially when he’s meeting up with all his Death Eater mates.”

Emma pinched the bridge of her nose. She was going to scream, she decided. She was going to scream and hex Black into next week. She was fingering her wand, ready to cast a particularly ugly jinx when the Floo roared to life.

Within the next hour, the entire Order of the Phoenix was milling around Sirius’ kitchen. Albus was talking softly to Kingsley, gesturing his hands in a way that made Emma think he was nervous. Honestly, his tells were rather obvious to any self-respecting observer. But Albus Dumbledore wasn’t really in the business of trusting those with too much self-respect, now was he?

The talk died down after awhile, and the group seated. But Albus didn’t start the meeting, instead looking pointedly at Emma as if the one absence was entirely her doing.

She shot Albus a tremulous smile that he did not return, his ice-blue eyes instead flicking to the Floo in a meaningful gesture. Whispers began to circulate along the table, connecting her cousins absence with a word Emma hated. 

_ Traitor. _

Oh, he was going to kill her. She silently prayed to whoever was listening for a quick, painless death. He liked her well enough after all these years. He wouldn’t want to draw it out. Would he?

She didn’t get to finish her request to the heavens before he stalked into the kitchen, face stony and eyes livid. When he met her nervous gaze with his black eyes, she gave a small wave.

He narrowed his eyes infinitesimally. The rest of the Order watched with bated breath as he gestured for her to get up and walk towards him. She complied, not being to help the mirth in her eyes at seeing just how much her cousin’s colleagues feared him. They were practically falling out of their seats in apprehension. 

Emma was snapped out of her incredulous reverie as a silky voice spoke.

"What," Severus asked. “Do you have to say for yourself?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my lovelies! This lovely fic is the first installment of my Severitus Remixes. I just LOVE the Severitus trope, and I don't want to limit myself to only one interpretation of it. 
> 
> Severus is my smol, problematic bean. I love delving into his character and all the potential to be had regarding his relationship with Harry. Because, let's be honest, while Jo's world-building is amazing, her character development tends to leave a lot to be desired.
> 
> But I'm talking too much. Onward, ho!


	2. The First Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus brings a gift, Sirius starts a fight, and Emma contemplates incest.

“I love you, Sev.”

“Try again,” Severus snorted, seemingly ignoring the stares from the rest of the room.

“You’re my favorite person in the entire world?”

“Is that a question or an answer?” Sev raised his eyebrow, clearly not appeased.

“Does it help any?”

“No.”

“Alright.” Emma sighed. “Just give me a moment, will you?”

“By all means, Emma, take all the time you need.”

Emma gulped audibly. She wasn’t _really_ scared, she was a grown woman, after all— and Sev wouldn’t _murder_ her, at least not in front of this many witnesses. But she knew how tenuous his position was with the rest of the Order. Albus’ trust really only went so far. Since he hadn’t informed any of the Order of the deviation from his usual schedule, his tardiness would undoubtedly be construed as somehow indicative of his true allegiances. Emma was going to start groveling when she saw the tea.

“Sev!” She all but squealed, pulling the package from his hands. He raised his eyebrows, but Emma could tell he was pleased by her reaction, the bloody sap. “I love you so much. Oh my gosh. You’re amazing, Sev. My light, my love, my life, thank you! Thank you!”

Emma launched herself at him, glad when Severus wrapped her up in a tight hug, smiling as he cupped her head with a calloused hand. She had missed him so much, not having heard from him in a week. She had begun to think the worst… But that didn’t matter now. Not when she had tea!

She pulled away from Severus to go to the counter to carefully place her package of perfection in a nearby cabinet. With a sly smirk, she turned back to face the rest of the Order, all of whom looked as if they had seen a ghost. She chose then to begin her tirade.

"So, Sev,” Emma began brightly. “How’s Posie? I do miss the dear— she’s always telling me I need to come home more. Do you think that's true? I mean, I always try to see her for holidays, but I know that even free house elves need someone to coddle… Do tell me you visit her? Oh of course you do, you’re always such a _sweetheart_. Did she give you the tea?”

Severus’ right ring finger twitched. My, he’d must have had a terrible day if she got that much of a reaction out of him just by calling him _sweetheart_. “No,” he replied curtly. “I went to get it for you.”

“Oh, you’re such a dear, Sev.”

“I only did it so you’d stop sending all those ruddy owls bemoaning your lack of proper tea.”

“Come off it, love. Your life would be dreadfully dull without my letters.”

Severus sighed. “Well I certainly wish I could refute that, but it seems I have been bested. Don’t get too used to it.”

“Oh, never.”

Emma shook her head ruefully before she cheerfully grabbed his arm and dragged him to the chair next to her. She pushed him down and patted his shoulder as she took her seat to his right. Severus sighed as he always did whenever she manhandled him, but Emma knew he liked the reminder that someone cared about him.

Emma had to smile at the astonished stares being sent their way. She thought taming a bloody manticore would be less impressive to this lot than what she just did. Severus had truly outdone himself with this whole “greasy-git” schtick. Emma was really quite proud of the man.

“Ahem,” Albus cleared his throat, and slowly the attention of the room turned back to him. “As you can see, we have a new member to the Order. Professor Prince, if you would…” He trailed off, and Emma nodded.

“Alright, then,” she began brightly, ignoring all the incredulous looks around the room. These people were really awfully dreadful at being subtle weren’t they? No wonder Severus was the only spy. “I’ll start with my name--- Emmaline Josefa Prince. But please call me Emma. I will be taking up the History of Magic teaching position at Hogwarts for the foreseeable future, since your ghost has decided to move on. Hmm… right, my credentials. I went to Ilvermorny and graduated from House Great Horned Serpent with high honors, then went onto two Mastery Programs--- one in Magical History and one in Spell Development. I’m obviously going to be at Hogwarts to teach, but my _other_ goal is to bridge House divides. For example, I hope to foster dialogue between the Slytherins and the rest of the school. All aspects of social theory suggest---”

“Wait a moment,” Sirius interrupted incredulously. “You want to let the Slytherins infiltrate the other Houses? Are you mad?”

“No, Sirius, I’m not mad, but thank you _ever_ so much for your concern,” Emma retorted, trying to keep her voice level. “And the Slytherin students are not going to _infiltrate_ anything. My goal is to keep them from being alienated by students and staff alike, to offer a new perspective on the Wizarding World. I want to give them a reason to fight for the Light.”

“And beating You-Know-Who isn’t reason enough?” Sirius replied hotly, mouth set in a firm, furious line.

“To us?” Emma said, struggling to keep her cool. “Yes, of course. No one at this table believes Riddle’s bigoted bullshit. But a twelve year old kid who grew up in the pureblood community that sings that madman’s praises? They won’t be exposed to tolerance unless they can make connections with half-blood and Muggle-born students. Alienating and punishing children who don’t have any other frame of reference only allows Death Eaters to gain more members.”

“I managed---”

“You managed to overcome that _one_ form of prejudice, yes,” Emma stated firmly. “But you had access to the kind of support that few Slytherins have the chance to enjoy.”

Emma didn’t think Severus meant to smile slightly at her retort, but it was clear that Sirius picked up on it.

“You just love this crap your little girlfriend’s spouting,” Sirius growled. “Don’t you, Snivelly?”

Emma couldn’t help it. She had meant to hex Sirius for the use of that _awful_ name, she really did. But, Sirius had called her… Oh, it was too good. Peals of laughter bubbled out from her, and she had to lean on Severus for support and she convulsed with giggles. Severus was shaking silently, so Emma knew that he would have been roaring with laughter if he hadn’t liked his fearsome reputation so very much.

“Emma,” Severus struggled to maintain his composure. “I was unaware that you harbored such strong feelings for me. Unfortunately---”

  
“Oh, stop!” Emma sighed dramatically. “Don’t say it, Severus, please--- I know our love can never be realized, for you’re just too good for me.”

“Now, Emma,” Albus commented mildly, his blue eyes twinkling merrily. “The Order is a very accepting atmosphere, but we _do_ have to draw the line at blatant incest.”

Severus clearly didn’t give a damn what the others thought of him, then. Hearing his mentor join in on the joke made him burst with laughter, his grin warming Emma’s heart. Just to keep him laughing, Emma turned to Albus.

“How can you, Albus? You’d lose half your base. Why, I think the romantic love between first cousins is positively _innocent_ compared to what some purebloods get up to at family reunions.”

Her comment managed to encourage a couple snorts from around the room, but the woman with pink hair let out an outrageous guffaw, slapping her hand onto the wooden table.

“Emma,” she gasped, still giggling. “I think you’re my new favorite person.”

“Thank you,” Emma replied, grinning cheekily in Severus’s direction. He suddenly sobered and rolled his eyes. “Glad to see that I rank that high for someone around this table.”

“I am not going to dignify that with a response.”

  
“Oh, bugger. And I had just sent Leonard Cohen a fruit basket and everything.”

A few more chuckles circled around the room before Emma decided to turn back to look at Sirius. He was fuming, his eyes hard and icy. Emma glared at him.

“Since you have proven yourself incapable of recognizing simple facts, Sirius,” Emma began frigidly, leaning towards him and leaning her elbows on the table, intertwining her fingers. “I had better explain the joke. Severus’ mum was my estranged aunt, and however close you thought you were to my parents and brother, he was closer. He has been my legal guardian since my parents and Eddie died, but is not in any way responsible for my own opinions. And, in regards to your previous slander regarding Severus, if you believe for one moment that Severus is still a Death Eater, you’re leagues more stupid than you look.”

Emma paused, and took in the absolute stillness of the room. Every eye was on her and Sirius, and even though Emma was no Slytherin, she knew a good move when she saw one.

  
“So if we’re all done airing our two decades-old dirty laundry, I’m going to continue. I would really love to defeat Voldemort in this century, if that’s _quite_ alright with you. Where was I? Oh, yes….”

Her piece flew by in moments, it seemed, but Emma stayed alert long after the discussions concerning her were through. Her eyes remained pinned on Black, and her hand remained wound tight around Severus’ underneath the table.


End file.
